The use of electro-osmosis to assist in the driving of an electrically conductive pile is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,046,657 in which the pile is coated with a non-conductive insulator on the inside and electrical current is transmitted down the interior of the pile. However, coating the inside of a pile is expensive, difficult to apply, and is difficult to test and repair. Furthermore, the total adhesion and shear resistance of the soil is greater on the outside of the pile and it is more important to direct the current and thus the water along the outside of the pile for wetting the soil on the outside of the pile.
The present invention is directed to an improved method of assisting pile driving by electro-osmosis by insulating the pile on the outside with an electrical non-conductor in order to save time and expense, and to direct current downwardly along the outside of the pile to be driven easier through the soil by increasing the water content adjacent the outer surface of the pile at the location where the total resistance to driving is the greatest.